Maybe. Possibly. He hoped so.
Matt felt his heart lurch.
But he didn’t know. She’d stayed at his place every night since they’d returned home, going back to hers only to pick up fresh clothes. But when he’d suggested she could pack a suitcase and move a few things upstairs, she’d resisted.
Apparently, she could spend the night, but her clothes couldn’t. That added a significance, and a permanence, she clearly wasn’t ready to think about.
He hadn’t argued with her. He told himself that it was important to give her the time and space to adjust to the new level of intimacy between them. He told himself that if he was patient she’d realize that she didn’t need somewhere to escape to, because she wasn’t trapped.
He told himself all that, but there was still the one important fact he was never able to entirely forget.
Frankie had never had a romantic relationship she hadn’t walked away from.
He was risking everything in the hope that her feelings for him would be stronger than her fears.
For him the risk was worth it, no question. But did Frankie feel the same way?
That was a big question.
Ignoring the ripple of unease, he glanced at Chase. “You’re up. Do me a favor and win.”
Chapter Seventeen
Before you hand over your heart, get a receipt.
—Frankie
The oppressive heat of August slid into the mellower heat of September. The tourist congestion eased, and locals gradually reclaimed their city.
New York Fashion Week came and went, and in between work demands Frankie and Matt explored the city that was their home.
They ate hot dogs while watching a baseball game, and sprawled on the grass in Bryant Park listening to classical music concerts. They strolled along The High Line, the elevated park built on a disused railway line, and discussed the planting and how they could apply some of the ideas to their own work. Occasionally Roxy and Mia joined them, and during those walks Frankie discovered just how smart Roxy was. She wanted to know every plant name, and not just the common name but the Latin name, too. And she never had to be told twice. She pushed Mia in the stroller, muttering about Acer triflorum and Lespedeza thunbergii under her breath.
They joined their friends for pizza at Romano’s, and had movie nights up on Matt’s roof, but the moments Frankie enjoyed most were the ones when they were alone. Their favorite place was Central Park and they explored hidden corners together, and soaked up the last of the summer sun on Summit Rock, the highest point in the park.
Work on the roof terrace was coming to an end and Matt had pulled his whole team onto the job to make sure it was finished before the summer weather flew south with the birds.
It was hot, sweaty work but Frankie had discovered there was nothing she liked more than getting hot and sweaty with Matt. Whether they were naked between the sheets or clothed on the roof terrace, being near him was exciting. She found herself stealing glances when she was sure no one was looking and he did, too.
Unlike her, he was never embarrassed at being caught.
Instead, he gave her a sexy smile loaded with a promise of what they’d be doing later.
Although her responsibility was the planting, she quickly understood that in a small team like Matt’s, everyone had to be prepared to roll up their sleeves and she did so willingly. Everyone did the same, until the morning Roxy didn’t show up.
They were all at the workshop, preparing to move the three log benches to the site, along with some of the custom-made planters, and they needed every pair of hands.
&nbs
p; Frankie was feeling unsettled, thinking back to a conversation she’d had with Matt that morning. It was a conversation they’d had a few times. He’d suggested she move some of her things up to his apartment and she’d refused. He hadn’t pushed her, but she knew that by refusing she’d hurt him, as if by holding back on moving her things she was holding back part of herself.
Why did it matter that she still kept her clothes downstairs?
Why did he need her to move everything she owned as well as herself?
Guilt mingled with exasperation, along with the uncomfortable suspicion that she was a coward.
She hated that feeling, but most of all she hated hurting Matt.